Raster graphics are made up of a series of individual colored boxes known as pixels. They're static. Once something has been designed as a raster, it can never be enlarged without pixelation and quality loss.

Vector graphics are made up of mathematical formulas that dictate all of the properties of a graphic on an X and Y axis. They're more dynamic in that they can be enlarged infinitely without quality loss.

Since a logo needs to be versatile enough to be used in a variety of different ways, it makes sense to create it in a format that offers the most versatility, which would be vector. This is why logo designers prefer vector applications (like Illustrator and Inkscape) over raster (Photoshop, GIMP.)

That's not to say that a great logo can't be designed in Photoshop. It certainly can, but it would be like using a fork to eat your cereal. There's much better tools for the job.

Vector tools work best for things like logos, icons, UI. Raster tools work best for photo editing and manipulation.

That said, I think logo designers should use whichever software they're most comfortable and proficient with. If you hire a logo designer who uses Photoshop, just make sure that they create it at a really, really large size. At least 4,000 pixels in one dimension. It would suck if one day you decide to have your logo used on a vehicle wrap, or cut into a large steel sign, only to find out it won't work because the largest copy you have was meant for a WordPress site. Ideally, it should be created in vectors though.

Wow, thank you sooo much for this great explanation. This tells me a lot about why the odd logo designer mentions vector & so many others don't.

I guess it would tell me a lot about whether they know what they are doing when creating a logo, but I thought Illustrator was less expensive than Photoshop, no?

So why if they aren't true logo designers would they be buying PS?

Maybe I'm wrong about the price.

I just asked the guy who's doing my logo what he's using LOL

Thanks again

Originally Posted by nowservingpixels

Vector graphics and raster graphics are very different.

Raster graphics are made up of a series of individual colored boxes known as pixels. They're static. Once something has been designed as a raster, it can never be enlarged without pixelation and quality loss.

Vector graphics are made up of mathematical formulas that dictate all of the properties of a graphic on an X and Y axis. They're more dynamic in that they can be enlarged infinitely without quality loss.

Since a logo needs to be versatile enough to be used in a variety of different ways, it makes sense to create it in a format that offers the most versatility, which would be vector. This is why logo designers prefer vector applications (like Illustrator and Inkscape) over raster (Photoshop, GIMP.)

That's not to say that a great logo can't be designed in Photoshop. It certainly can, but it would be like using a fork to eat your cereal. There's much better tools for the job.

Vector tools work best for things like logos, icons, UI. Raster tools work best for photo editing and manipulation.

That said, I think logo designers should use whichever software they're most comfortable and proficient with. If you hire a logo designer who uses Photoshop, just make sure that they create it at a really, really large size. At least 4,000 pixels in one dimension. It would suck if one day you decide to have your logo used on a vehicle wrap, or cut into a large steel sign, only to find out it won't work because the largest copy you have was meant for a WordPress site. Ideally, it should be created in vectors though.

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Use either photoshop or corel draw! Actually you need to be extremely creative., as tools are just mediums through which you can create logos or designs in general. It is the mind which makes the difference!

Adobe Illustrator - Built for Logo Design
The most distinct characteristic of Illustrator is that it is a vector drawing tool, meaning, the output file is a vector graphic that can be resized to any degree, without losing any quality. As you may have guessed, this is absolutely essential for logo design because of the dynamic diversity of its applications - you need the logo to function in spaces as small as a business card but also as big as a billboard. Conveniently, vector files allow for you to shrink or grow the finished design without any deterioration of graphic integrity.

Adobe Photoshop
As the name would suggest, Photoshop is the master when it comes to photo manipulation and editing. Because of this strength, it is therefore the preferred tool when designing anything that contains photos such as brochures, posters, postcards, flyers, etc.

Think of it this way; by contrast, Illustrator is best for creating, from scratch, the individual elements that are then laid out within Photoshop to form a greater, more collective document. While Illustrator works mainly with vector files, Photoshop is primarily a raster-based program that produces bitmaps.

it's extremely common for clients to request that designers use Adobe Photoshop for the project, so that they may be able to edit the logo themselves in the future. While this makes sense in the fact that Photoshop is a more accessible and user-friendly program, thus preferred by novice designers, it simply isn't the appropriate tool for professional logo design.

Adobe Illustrator - Built for Logo Design
The most distinct characteristic of Illustrator is that it is a vector drawing tool, meaning, the output file is a vector graphic that can be resized to any degree, without losing any quality. As you may have guessed, this is absolutely essential for logo design because of the dynamic diversity of its applications - you need the logo to function in spaces as small as a business card but also as big as a billboard. Conveniently, vector files allow for you to shrink or grow the finished design without any deterioration of graphic integrity.

Adobe Photoshop
As the name would suggest, Photoshop is the master when it comes to photo manipulation and editing. Because of this strength, it is therefore the preferred tool when designing anything that contains photos such as brochures, posters, postcards, flyers, etc.

Think of it this way; by contrast, Illustrator is best for creating, from scratch, the individual elements that are then laid out within Photoshop to form a greater, more collective document. While Illustrator works mainly with vector files, Photoshop is primarily a raster-based program that produces bitmaps.

it's extremely common for clients to request that designers use Adobe Photoshop for the project, so that they may be able to edit the logo themselves in the future. While this makes sense in the fact that Photoshop is a more accessible and user-friendly program, thus preferred by novice designers, it simply isn't the appropriate tool for professional logo design.

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I think Illustrator is the best of best for logo design.
Vector graphics are made up of mathematical formulas that dictate all of the properties of a graphic on an X and Y axis. They're more dynamic in that they can be enlarged infinitely without quality loss.

I use Adobe Illustrator. It's useful when you consider resizing a part of a logo. As the vectors can be scaled without loss in pixels. Although the softwares are not restricted to illustrator and photoshop. you could use affinity designer, figma, Inkscape etc. You will stumble across tons when you do some research.

Most of the designers use Adobe Illustrator. Because of the vector file that has no limit on dimension, which mean you can have all of the sizes you want without losing the quality of output. The reason that people suggested you not to use Adobe Photoshop, it is because the image size issue. What if you have to use it for a trade show that requires your logo to be a large size? It will lose the quality. Some people use Coreldraw too. But I preferred Adobe Illustrator myself for over 15 years already.

Logos are almost always designed using vector graphics editors since they allow the graphics to be scaled up/down without any quality loss. Affinity Designer supports all major image and vector file types, including full-layer PSDs. Other major features include a customizable workspace, asset management panel, live spell checking, pressure editor and much more.

The industry standard for professional logo design is Adobe Illustrator.

Next is Corel Draw.

No raster based software is a suitable for development of a professional logo design and conversions are rough and stripped of in-software dynamic (features which pertain to elements). A professional brand needs thorough dexterity for a wide range of applications and it need to be developed by a person who has those aspects in mind.

If you are developing a logo for a quick blog to promo an ebook, primarily online however, anything goes. There is no intricacy to consider in production in regards of scale or gamut - in consideration of inks in printing.

A designer who hasn't invested in themselves and the correct tools will propbably find his halfway house with Affinity Designer, though that too is stripped of industry standard dynamic features.

I think Illustrator is one that can go well with logo design as It offers much more control over vector curves. You can use any software to create a logo.Because tools matters less than Skills. But I am saying Illustrator because it is industry standard. You can build the logo for your smaller projects but some industries will require format that can be offered by only Illustrator.

The precise shape-building tools, brushes, and advanced path controls give you the freedom to create almost any graphic you can think of.

Perspective grids can help create realistic depth and distance.

When color needs to be used sparingly, gradients can be very effective. Illustrator enables interactions with gradients directly on an object. Users can even apply gradients to individual strokes while still controlling placement and opacity.

The only downside is that it is a bit expensive compared to the other software. Also, it can be intimidating for beginners since it features so many advance tools.